Let this be yet another warning to small business owners everywhere:
London baker Rachel Brown was recently forced to bake over 100,000
cupcakes for Groupon customers, and ended up losing about $3 on each
batch.
--Sarah Jacobsson Purewal, PC World, on losing money on every order but making it up in volume
Need a Cake offered a deal of 12 cupcakes with a choice of flavours and
designs for £6.50, which would normally cost £26. It received 8,500
requests as a result, substantially more than its usual production level
of about 100 a month.
The company, which employs eight people, had to bring in agency staff to try to meet the upsurge in demand.
Ms Brown estimates the extra costs of staff and distribution could be up to £12,500, wiping out profits for the year.
--BBC
